Not long after John Paul II died, I received an apologetics question from someone who was corresponding with a hard-core Traditionalist—"probably SSPX" was how the Traditionalist was described to me. My inquirer reported that his correspondent believed John Paul II was "the worst pope ever," but let's allow the Traditionalist to put into his own words his position on the man who has since been canonized, and is now known to the world as St. John Paul II:

Over the years I have had my fair share of encounters with anti-Catholics. Their arguments against the faith are pretty predictable - one of the most popular being that the Pope is the Antichrist. One of the typical “gotcha” proofs of this claim is the Papal symbol of the upside down or inverted cross, which the anti-Catholic confidently asserts as being satanic. Because of this, they reason, the Pope is himself in league with Satan.

In the pantheon of great women in Church history, pride of place should be accorded the young mystic from Siena, St. Catherine, whose feast we celebrate today.

Born in 1347 to a humble wool-dyer, Catherine became one the most influential persons of fourteenth-century Christendom. After she became a Dominican tertiary at the age of nineteen she embarked on a life of intense spiritual practices. Her reputation for great holiness spread quickly, and she found herself answering letters...

2013 was quite a year for Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Elected in March after the surprise resignation of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Pope Francis has taken the world by storm. It started as soon he stepped out onto the balcony to be introduced to the world as Pope Francis, when he eschewed the papal mozzetta and put on the traditional papal stole only when he was ready to bless the crowds. Even his...